5/18/24, 12:11 PM Hofstede's Six Cultural Dimensions—and Why They Matter

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THEORIES SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Hofstede's Six Cultural Dimensions—

and Why They Matter
A psychological method for describing the differences
between cultures
By Cynthia Vinney, PhD Updated on March 22, 2024

Reviewed by David Susman, PhD

d3sign/Moment/Getty Images

Table of Contents

Who Is Geert Hofstede?

The Six Cultural Dimensions

The Significance of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

Real-World Applications and Examples

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Final Thoughts

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The Cultural Dimensions Theory was developed by Geert Hofstede and his
colleagues to explain the way different cultures impact the people who live
in them. The study started as an examination of Hofstede’s colleagues
across IBM’s offices around the world. At the time, he only included four
dimensions in his theory, which he published in 1980: Power Distance,
Individualism versus Collectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity, and
Uncertainty Avoidance. [1]

Then, with the help of Michael Harris Bond, [2] a Canadian social
psychologist working in Hong Kong, he added Long-term Orientation
versus Short-Term Orientation in the 1980s. And in 2010, through his
work with Michael Minkov, [3] a Bulgarian linguist, Indulgence versus
Restraint was added.

Let's dive into the six dimensions that make up the theory, their
significance in psychology, and take a look at some real world examples.

Who Is Geert Hofstede?

Geert Hofstede was a social psychologist who was born in 1928 in the
Netherlands. World War II, a defining event in his life, began when he was
12. He became an engineer during the years the country struggled to
rebuild but soon became fascinated by the human's role in the system,
and, therefore, decided to turn his attention to psychology. [4]

He did a PhD in organizational behavior and landed a job at IBM

International where he first started conducting his research on the
company’s culture in the late 1960s. That led to his first book, 1980’s
Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related
Values, which was the beginning of cross-cultural psychology as a serious
discipline. [5]

Hofstede was named one of the 20 most influential business thinkers of

the 20th century by the Wall Street Journal and numerous universities have
bestowed honorary doctorates on him. [5] He died on February 12, 2020.

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The Six Cultural Dimensions

Hofstede’s research helps people
Table understand
of Contents the differences between
world cultures along six dimensions. The dimensions are as follows:

Power Distance
This is the degree to which people in a society expect to be equal. Carl
Nassar, PhD, LPC, a professional counselor in Denver, CO, had this to say
about power distance. “There’s inequality in all cultures, but ask yourself:
Are you in a culture where you’ve got a relatively equal distribution of
power (a 'low power distance index') or a culture where the power is held
by the few and dictated to the many (a 'high power distance index')?”

Low Power Distance cultures see inequality as needed sometimes, but

their goal is for relationships to be as equal as possible. In High
Power Distance cultures, on the other hand, inequality is the basis of
society. [6]

Individualism vs. Collectivism

This is the degree to which people focus on their groups. Individualistic
societies, like the United States, strongly value personal achievement and
focus on individual needs, whereas in collectivist societies, achievements
and decisions are made with the group in mind. [7]

“How focused is the culture on ‘I’ instead of on ‘we?’” says Nassar. “Do
individuals look out for themselves (‘it’s every person for themselves’), or
do we look out for each other (‘we’ll rise together and we’ll fall
together’.)”

Masculinity vs. Femininity

This is the preference for masculine versus feminine traits in a society.

In Hofstede's theory, masculine traits include assertiveness,

competitiveness, power, and material success, while feminine traits

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include nurturing relationships, a good quality of life, and caring for

others.
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As Nassar observes, “It’s no surprise to learn the [United States] has a low
femininity score.” In masculine cultures, differences in gender roles are
very dramatic, whereas in feminine cultures, the roles are fairly fluid. [8]

Uncertainty Avoidance
This dimension deals with how much a society can cope with uncertainty
of the future.

While every culture must deal with this, cultures with high uncertainty
avoidance rely on their set rules and structures about the way things are
done to deal with it, whereas those with low uncertainty avoidance are
more relaxed. [9]

As Nassar shares, this dimension boils down to, “Are you willing to take
risks and deal with the anxiety this causes, or do you prefer to create
structures that keep things organized but also reduce risk and
opportunity?”

Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation

This dimension looks at the extent to which people are willing to forego
short-term gains for future rewards, in particular, by emphasizing the
virtues of persistence, saving, and thrift. On the opposite end of the
spectrum is foregoing future rewards for short-term gains in the past or
the present, with an emphasis on immediate gratification and quick
results. [8]

“The [United States], like its stock market,” Nassar says, “tends to be
all about making it now and letting tomorrow take care of itself.”
This makes the [United States] a culture with a short-term
orientation.

Indulgence vs. Restraint

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This dimension deals with how much your culture satisfies human needs
or desires versus how much you hold back on your desires to satisfy
societal norms. As Nassar puts it, of
Table “How’s your impulse control? Do you
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tend to go for instant gratification, or do you hold off, in part through
social norms, deferring gratification…”

For instance, indulgent cultures tend to focus more on individual well-

being and personal freedom, whereas happiness and freedom are not
given the same level of importance in restrained cultures. [10]

The Significance of Hofstede's Cultural

Dimensions
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Theory continues to be the go-to theory
for understanding cultures around the globe. As Alyssa Roberts, a
practicing psychologist, researcher, and writer at Practical Psychology
shares, “Hofstede’s research is so incredibly relevant to this day that it
continues to be the basis for assessing how a culture behaves and what
kind of cultural adaptation people from different countries need to
undergo in order to fully adapt [to a new country].”

Hofstede’s theory can tell you a lot about the different cultures of the
world by dividing them along these six dimensions.

The significance of the theory comes down to this: “For most of

humanity’s 200,000 year history on this planet, we grew up in villages...,”
Nassar says. “But, beginning some 20,000 years ago, and accelerating
over the past 500 years, the collective village cultures of the earth were
overrun by a consumer culture, a culture that abandoned the security we
found with each other and replaced it with the security of individual fiscal
wealth.

“ Hofstede’s dimensions ask the questions: Did

a modern culture retain its village values? Did
it instead embrace the consumer culture? Or
did it walk a middle road?”
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— CARL NASSAR, PHD, LPC

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Real-World Applications and Examples

Roberts has spent a lot of time in different places around the world, and
that has driven home the value of Hofstede’s Six Cultural Dimensions.
She’s provided examples of each dimension in action here:

Power Distance can be very different between cultures. “In some Latin
American countries, children are taught from a young age to use formal
titles when addressing parents, teachers, or other authority figures,”
Roberts says. “This ingrained hierarchy contrasts with Nordic cultures
where children call teachers by their first names.”
Individualism vs. Collectivism emerged for Roberts when she worked with
immigrant families in the United States. “Those from collectivist societies
like China prioritized family cohesion and group goals over individual
pursuits. However, their American-born children tended to absorb more
individualistic values causing intergenerational conflicts.”
Masculinity vs. Femininity is seen in whether cultures are more equal or
more traditional. As Roberts explains, “I counseled a couple struggling to
adjust after moving from egalitarian Sweden to traditional India. The wife
felt increasing constraints around appropriate 'feminine' roles contrasting
with the overlapping gender roles in Scandinavia.”
Uncertainty Avoidance is experienced by all cultures but some are more
prone to take risks than others. “A Japanese exchange student
experiencing intense homesickness and difficulty adapting to ambiguous
college social norms [was evidence of this],” observes Roberts. “This
reflected the security his uncertainty-avoidant native culture provided
around social structures and rules.” And the lack of uncertainty-avoidant
social norms he experienced at his new college.”
Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation is the extent to which a culture
prepares for the future. Above, Nassar provided one example of short-
term orientation: the United States. Roberts provides another examples,
“the forward-thinking mindset instilled in many Asian cultures,” which
is oriented toward the long-term.
Indulgence vs. Restraint is experienced in how much people are free to be
themselves in public. For Roberts, this “underpinned an Egyptian client’s

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chronic stress. She found the German culture of strict social restraints and
norms around fun-seeking to be at odds with the indulgent festivity
permeating Egyptian social Table
life.” of Contents

Final Thoughts
While these dimensions are a popular tool for cross-cultural psychologists
and businesses, it’s important to remember that these dimensions are
generalizations. Therefore, they may not describe everyone from a specific
culture.

Nonetheless, Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory has stood the test of

time to show the six dimensions that affect the ways people from different
cultures interact.

10 Sources

By Cynthia Vinney, PhD

Cynthia Vinney, PhD is an expert in media psychology and a
published scholar whose work has been published in peer-reviewed
psychology journals.

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